Gripsholm theatre is the most recent and the smallest ofthe three extant theatres; its wing change mechanism is also the simplest. The Court Theatre at Gripsholm Castle Although this Swedish castle dates from the sixteenth century, its importance to theatre history began in 1777, when King Gustavus III bought tlle castle from his mother, Queen Louisa Ulrika, and instructed architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz to build a small tlJeatre in tlJe top of a tower which had a diameter of about 45 feet. This tiny theatre with an illusionistic stage proved to be inadequate for the "theatre king" and he ordered tlJe construction of a larger theatre. Architect Erik Palmstedt increased the size of tlJe tlleatre by incorporating part of an adjacent wing of the palace. The auditorium was remodeled again in 1785, but the theatre fell into disuse shortly tllereafter. The castle is now a museum featuring a collection of paintings of Swedish monarchs. '2 The Court Theatre at Gripsholm Castle. Photo by Eric Cornelius; courtesy of the National Swedish Art Museums. Gripsholm Theatre Wing Change Gripsholm theatre is the most recent and the smallest of the three extant theatres (see sidebar); its wing change mechanism is also the simplest. This theatre uses the typical central shaft and drum. With only two wings in each of the four banks the mechanism is reversible since the stage technicians do not have to connect a different set of wing trolleys to the central shaft for each change. Each wing unit consists of a trolley with two grooved wheels, which ride on rails, located on raised platforms in the sub-stage area and a wing ladder, which can be removed from the trolley for maintenance. The \\~ng frame passes through the stage floor and requires a relatively wide slot for its movement as shown in figure 3. Each trolley has hooks mounted on both its onstage and offstage ends. Aring in the end of a rope connected to the central shaft is connected to the onstage trolley hook. A rope with rings on both ends connects the offstage ends of the trolleys in each bank; tllis rope passes around a horizontal pulley offstage of the trolleys allOWing one unit to be pulled offstage as the other is pulled onstage. All of the hooks and rings are bound with leather to eliminate the metal-to-metal noise. Arope loop attached to the large drum on the central shaft allows a stagehand to rotate the drum and shaft, thus pulling one set of wings onslage and the other set offstage as shown in figure 4. The mechanical advantage of this system is the ratio of the diameter of the shaft to the diameter of the drum. AQuickTime movie of the \~ng change at the Gripsholm Theatre may be seen on the World Wide Web at: http://wwwl.appstate.edu/orgsl spectacle/animalions/gripsholmwing.mov. TZl&T WI I N T E R I 9 9 9 49http://wwwl.appstate.edu/orgsl